August is my favourite month. Harvesting veggies and fruit, watching butterflies and countless other pollinators in my gardens, and coming upon different baby birds and migrants just passing through keeps my life interesting. I never know who I might find around the yard.
These photos were all taken on my property, or just across the street in the field.
You may have noticed a lot of birds passing through lately. Believe it or not, birds are already beginning their southward movement. That takes a lot of energy, which means eating as much as they can right now!
We share our blueberries with the robins.
There are also a lot of baby birds around- birds that have grown up in our area and are now fattening up for their first journey south. Let me introduce you to some of the visitors to our garden.
Unbelievably cute baby Eastern Bluebird
Although the bluebird boxes on our property did not end up housing any little families of bluebirds, our neighbour’s boxes did, and now the little bluebirds visit our yard for a snack, flitting down from the branches to catch insects, then back up again.
Great Crested Flycatcher
We welcome the families of flycatchers as well, who nested in a hole in a tree near our house.
Blue winged warbler
Local birders know that if they want a guaranteed sighting of a Blue Winged Warbler, they need only visit my neighbourhood in the summer. Right now, the families are stocking up on food for their journey south.
Cedar Waxwing
Our blueberry patch is definitely a hit. Especially with the Cedar Waxwings Luckily once our elderberries fruit, the waxwings much prefer those berries.
Feed me! Baby Catbird
The young catbirds flap their wings and literally “meow” for their food.
Baby Eastern Phoebe (I think)
I’m pretty sure this is one of the baby phoebes who grew up under the awning on our neighbour’s porch. It likes to sit in the dogwood bushes in my garden and fly down to catch flying insects.
Juvenile Robin
I think the robins under our back deck must have raised 3 families this summer!
Young red Bellied Woodpecker
I’ve learned a lot too. For example, I had no idea that woodpeckers ate berries until this year- photo evidence!
Everyone loves the blueberries.
I also never knew that chipmunks do this. It waits on the ground for the birds to drop the berries, even though I know it is perfectly capable of climbing up into the bush.
If you want to go out and take a look to see what you will find in your neighbourhood, most bird and critter activity is early in the morning, say around 7 – 9 am. Not too too early these days, as the mornings are darker, and chilly.
Stay tuned for my next couple of blogs- “Pollinators” will be next, and then I will have to do something with the hundreds of praying mantis pictures I have taken of my baby mantises growing up in my garden.
Thanks for visiting!
